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Intestinal parasites in children with diarrhea in Delhi, India.

2002; National Institutes of Health; Volume: 33; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

Ravinder Kaur, Deepti Rawat, Manish Kakkar, Beena Uppal, V. K. Sharma,

Parasites and Host Interactions

The parasitic causes of diarrhea in children in Delhi were determined by the direct smear technique; stool specimens of 127 children were examined for intestinal parasites. In 59 cases (46.5%) intestinal helminths and protozoa were demonstrated. Ascaris lumbricoides was observed in 1 (0.8%) case, while Trichuris trichiura was the finding in 3 (2.4%). Protozoal parasites included Giardia intestinalis and Entamoeba histolytica in 14 (11%) cases each, Balantidium coli in 3 (2.4%) cases and Cryptosporidium spp in 24 (18.9%) patients. Mixed infection was not seen in any of the cases. Intestinal parasites may increase susceptibility to infection with other intestinal pathogens and therefore with the help of a simple technique, like direct fecal smear examination. rapid diagnosis can be made and specific therapy instituted.